MEN UNDER WATER

by Ralph Lombreglia ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 20, 1990

Nine stories (several originally published in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and The Best American Short Stories 1987 and 1988, as well as in little magazines) that are mainly about men in psychological trouble. There's lots of dazzle and inventive detail, though Lombreglia can also be too clever for his own good. In the title story, the narrator is handyman and sounding-board for Gunther, a real-estate mogul who fancies himself a screenwriter. Along with Gunther, the narrator visits the rock group Acid Rain, gets an idea for ""the great rock-and-roll movie,"" and sells it with fast talk to a group of film investors who decide to take Gunther seriously. The two men end up tying themselves together and taking a swim in Gunther's pool, where the narrator discovers ""peace, an amazing liquid peace."" The satire is imaginative and polished, but finally forced to its comic epiphany. Likewise with ""Inn Essence,"" a romp through a restaurant where illegal Thai waiters, faced with a crazed dessert-chef, find unlikely allies in the narrator (the salad chef) and the owner's kept mistress. The piece is a tour de force--full of quick turns and marvelous slapstick--but, again, a reader is always too much aware of Lombreglia pulling the strings. ""Jungle Video"" is even more artfully manipulated: the narrator, who works for a couple who want to be ""brilliant media wizards,"" ends up making a video for them in an ape suit, a King Kong finish with a dose of New Yorker irony. Of the rest, ""Goodyear"" nicely turns the famous blimp into a metaphor of reconciliation; and a broken relationship in the funny ""Museum of Love"" becomes a money-making proposition, a literal ""museum of a love affair."" A first collection that's likely to receive a good deal of attention. Lombreglia serves up equal parts of genuine humor, often with an edge, and crafty self-indulgence.

Pub Date: March 20, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1990

Categories: FICTION